The Apostle Paul contrasts righteousness by faith with righteousness by works (Romans 3:23, 4:4-5), a righteousness from God Himself, obtained by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:9). When Paul speaks of the righteousness of God imputed to us, he refers to our right-standing with God, the fact that we are now in a new and right relationship with Him.
However within the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), how do they define the righeousness of God? Systemic in the NAR Bethel cult, is their belief that they are already made perfect because of the ‘power’ of the Holy Spirit, which in reality is a ‘righteousness’ by works.
Rather than have the Holy Spirit convict them with God’s good gift of repentance and forgiveness of sins through Christ – their ‘spirit’ affirms that not only are they the ‘righteousness of God’ but also ‘the glory of God’, with sin and repentance not even being on the radar.
This leads people within the NARismatic movement to embrace the demonic theology known as ‘sonship’, by reducing Jesus to just a man filled with the Holy Spirit – they too see themselves as sons of gods, advancing the Kingdom of God on earth through this same ‘spirit’ within. Specifically in Bethel, it is taught that the Kingdom of God is in the Spirit of God. The final authority of their false Christ, false spirit and themselves is in the kingdom, not the bible. This false theology leads their followers to believe they are part of the end-time dominionist Joel’s Army or New Breed, raised to influence and dominate the final end-times stage.
Godly or worldly?
As we will see in the below Kris Vallotton article, the NAR replace Godly faith with a worldly faith. Because it is assumed they are righteous and no longer sinners, the NAR understanding of sanctification is worked out in fulfilling one’s destiny. This is where the lines between worldly faith and godly faith are blurred within the NAR.
With the provocative heading, Vallotton argues, “You can’t steal God’s glory because He gave it to you”. Most discerning Christians would know this to be a misreading of scripture.
NAR Apostles and Prophets such as Bill Johnson, Kris Vallotton and many others, often compare the Christian faith to successful unbelievers. To them, this is what godly faith and sanctification looks like – worldly success. Although a Christian can have worldly success, this is not what the Holy Spirit promises believers, nor does He tell us to focus on destiny, success or things of this nature. As taught in Bethel, the NAR theology of the Kingdom teaches that when the Kingdom advances, miracles, healings and prosperity manifest.
In this case, Vallotton goes on to compare the faith of a believer to Courtney, a young singer competing on the popular TV show ‘X Factor’. You will note how he takes a young girl’s ‘faith’ in herself and forces the believer to operate on the same level:
“But here’s the kicker: You are not going to figure out who God created you to be in the comfort zone. We can all tell from the video that Courtney was nervous to be up on stage. But you know what, she stepped over the line of fear and faced her internal conflict head on! And look what happened!”
If the secular world can do this, so can a Christian – and that’s just called improving yourself. This is a far cry from saving faith.
The popular catch phrase ‘You Were Born for Greatness’ is a worldly concept that has no regard for the Christian message: ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’ (Acts 2:38). The spirit of this age is only affirming that the sinner is not really sinful but rather made for greatness.
Now we have false teachers in pulpits adding to this by saying, ‘You were born for greatness—in the image and greatness of God’. The arrogance of Kris Vallotton should not be dismissed as lack of understanding the biblical texts. He asserts, “the biggest deterrents for owning your greatness is the fear of stealing God’s glory. I’m sure you’ve heard people respond to compliments with, “Oh no, it’s not me. All the glory to God!””
While this can be said by many prominent personalities in today’s secular culture, it’s a genuinely humbling attribute when a believer rightfully acknowledges that their gifts, efforts and opportunities are God-given. However, Vallotton completely ignores the fact that the bible gives clear instructions as to what we are say and do, with our lives acknowledging the glory of God in His good gifts to us.
Vallotton asserts we ARE the glory of God – in other words, we are gods. The facts speak for themselves when Vallotton denies he is being arrogant:
“False humility is killing the church! When you were little, you knew you were born to be amazing. Think about what kids say when you ask what they want to be when they grow up—a princess, Spiderman, and the president are a few answers that come to mind. So what happens to us when we grow up? Why are we so afraid of being big?
This has got to stop! I’m not talking about being arrogant. I’m talking about believing in who God created you to be. Ephesians 5:1 says, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” When you’re acting like your heavenly Father, you’re actually being yourself!”
Does any of the above sound familiar to you? The second paragraph should – this is classic ‘sonship’ deification heresy. Kris Vallotton explains how God ‘created’ the believer to be in his book, ‘The Supernatural Ways of Royalty’:
“We are not just soldiers of the cross, we are heirs to the throne. The divine nature permeates our souls, transforms our minds, transplants our hearts, and transfigures our spirits. We were made to be vessels of His glory and vehicles of His light… Alternatively, we may be called the Children of God, the Engaged Bride, a Royal Priesthood, the Apple of His Eye, and a New Creation.” pg. 18
His coded language is defaulting back to the idea that we are ‘gods’. When Kris Vallotton says, “When you’re acting like your heavenly Father, you’re actually being yourself,” this anchors him back to his teaching on that unbiblical concept:
“When you act like God, you’re being yourself. That’s why Paul said in Ephesians 5, ‘be imitators of God.’ What are you doing? I’m acting like my Daddy.” [Source]
So of course all glory will go to you and not God. Using Vallotton’s theology, you were made a god and therefore are now a god. So all glory belongs to you. You just need to step over the ‘chicken line’ to be fully alive with your own supernatural power… just like the young contestant Courtney who received the golden buzzer on X Factor.
Kris Vallotton writes:
Why We Need to Stop Saying “All the Glory to God”
False humility is killing the church! When you were little, you knew you were born to be amazing. Think about what kids say when you ask what they want to be when they grow up—a princess, Spiderman, and the president are a few answers that come to mind. So what happens to us when we grow up? Why are we so afraid of being big?
This has got to stop! I’m not talking about being arrogant. I’m talking about believing in who God created you to be. Ephesians 5:1 says, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” When you’re acting like your heavenly Father, you’re actually being yourself!
Get Out of the Comfort Zone
Months ago we were laying in bed and Kathy wanted to show me a video she found. I have to say that it had such a huge impact on me and I want to share it with you today. Check it out:
Amazing, right? Let me ask you a question: when you saw that did you think badly of yourself? Probably not! The truth is, being fully alive is contagious!
I don’t know about you, but when I watched it I thought about what would happen if I, like this young lady, became fully alive and showed up fully as myself. The truth is, when you become fully alive it doesn’t reduce the people around you, it inspires the people around you!
You Were Born for Greatness!
You were born for greatness—in the image and greatness of God. I find that one of the biggest deterrents for owning your greatness is the fear of stealing God’s glory. I’m sure you’ve heard people respond to compliments with, “Oh no, it’s not me. All the glory to God!”
If you don’t want to steal God’s glory, then here’s some news: you ain’t that big! Not only are you not big enough to steal the glory of God, but the truth is you can’t steal something that was given to you!
In John 17:22 Jesus is praying for His disciples and says, “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;”
You can’t steal God’s glory because He gave it to you.
Stepping Over the Chicken Line
But here’s the kicker: You are not going to figure out who God created you to be in the comfort zone. We can all tell from the video that Courtney was nervous to be up on stage. But you know what, she stepped over the line of fear and faced her internal conflict head on! And look what happened!
If you keep yourself from conflict or difficult things, you’ll become a reduced version of yourself. People may look at me and think I’m perfectly comfortable up on stage but that isn’t always true! There’s always a slight bit of nervousness before I step up there. So, if you’re waiting for all nervousness and tension to leave your life before you’re fully alive, you’ll likely be waiting for a very long time.
So, how do you step over the chicken line? Do you allow yourself to be reduced by fear? What’s one risk you can take today to be fully yourself in the world? Join in on the conversation in the comments below because I’d love to hear your thoughts!
(It’s interesting to note that Kris Vallotton has since pulled the article down.)
Source: Kris Vallotton, Why We Need to Stop Saying “All the Glory to God”, https://krisvallotton.com/why-we-need-to-stop-saying-all-the-glory-to-god/, Published September 5, 2018. [Cache]
Since publishing our article, Kris Vallotton has stated on his Facebook wall: “False humility is killing the church! When you were little, you knew you were born to be amazing. Think about what kids say when you ask what they want to be when they grow up—a princess, Spiderman, and the president are a few answers that come to mind. So what happens to us when we grow up? Why are we so afraid of being big?
The fear of being glorious has got to stop! I’m not talking about being arrogant. I’m talking about believing in who God created you to be. If you struggle to be fully alive or are afraid of stealing God’s glory, then check out today’s blog. (I can see how my previous title for this blog caused confusion. I retitled this post after talking with my team because we felt we had made a mistake and the original title was disrespectful. I apologize and please read the full blog post to understand my heart on this issue.) Glory be to God!”
https://www.facebook.com/kvministries/posts/10155933132268741?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARBdy_-gfG1zPJFpwbslHHOp9DSiRfgRytHmeGrCyW6GtjvN0UADrtL-1L6dCPVwg9WuCZH2J1XljzBMnqKWZETDLihXA46IMSclb-vHCTAwFtvvRLrzc_RqTJ6CkFN0_p4jJMdkJq3_4rSA8uxlReOLwwLDTDYtqnipW0-hAV5gzMxSUOCIYyk&__tn__=-R
https://krisvallotton.com/false-humility-is-killing-us/
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Categories: Bethel "Church"